Blumarine Roughs Up the Y2K Aesthetic for Spring 2023

The brand also makes a foray into menswear.

It's a known fact that fashion is cyclical, and if you hold onto anything long enough, eventually it will become trendy again. This is what Italian brand Blumarine has come to be known for. While it was founded in 1977, the brand's ethos is largely associated with the Y2K era.

For its Spring 2023 collection, Blumarine continues to borrow from the noughties but inserts a more imperfect, utilitarian twist. Floral miniskirts and lacy crop tops are swapped for ubiquitous cargos, flared denim bell-bottoms and plenty of religious iconography.

Creative director Nicola Brognano told Vogue last season that "[his] Blumarine is more dirty, bitchy, sexier," — and this collection is certainly a testament to that. Models strutted the runway in dangerously low-rise, acid-wash denim jeans, paired with sheer tops, body-hugging corsets and even shredded denim cowl-neck tops revealing bare flesh underneath. There were undeniable similarities to looks made famous by "The Simple Life"-era Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, as well as "Dirrty"-era Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears' famous coordinating denim outfit with a certain ex-boyfriend.

Of course, the collection also includes a plethora of more femme looks that remain true to Blumarine's signature aesthetic, but with a slightly messy twist. Models floated past in elegant layered silk dresses that had tatters of ribbons trailing behind. It was almost as if those pieces of fabric had been shredded off the dress, imbuing the otherwise feminine look with a slightly grunge undertone.

Its signature rosebuds feature heavily once again but, this season, Blumarine all but ditches its well-known butterfly motif in favor of a Christian cross; the symbol is plastered all over denim, made into ornaments or worn as a skimpy top itself — certainly a blasphemous choice that would make any devoted Christian gasp or at least avert their eyes.

Brognano continues to push the envelope by expanding Blumarine's conventionally female audience into menswear as well. One male model rocked a studded denim jean that paired with a cropped tank top splattered with Blumarine's logo across its chest. The unisex pieces successfully break gender barriers.

All in all, the collection pays tribute to Y2K's kitsch and flashy glamor, but with a rougher edge. We are immediately transported back to high school by a collection full of pieces we wish we could have worn.

See every look from Blumarine's Spring 2023 collection in the gallery below.

View the 54 images of this gallery on the original article

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